A note about quotes.
Quotes are referenced such as 23/4/7-9 where 23/ is the page number, and 4/ is
the paragraph number, and 7-9 are the sentences. So this quote reference
indicates the the quote can be found at page 23, paragraph 4, sentences 7-9 of
an indicated book.

Egyptologists have developed theories
about ancient Egyptian civilization. Often, some people forget, or do not
realize, that much of what we read about ancient Egypt is, in fact, theory.
Any Egyptologist, or archaeologist, will tell you that much of what we know
about ancient Egypt is theory.

Religion In Ancient Egypt --- Shafer
xi/1/1-2 "Egyptology is a dynamic field. Ongoing archaeological and
epigraphically investigations continuously produce fresh data, some of which
point the way to reformulation of previously held hypotheses about ancient
Egyptian life, thought, and history."

These replica rolex watches theories are not just based on the
evidence (artifacts) because the evidence (artifacts) must be interpreted: the
basis of these theories is the interpretation of the artifacts. How the
evidence is interpreted is of great importance. The evidence is not always
interpreted the same way by different individuals, which gives rise to
competing theories, even within the field of Egyptology.

Much of what we...know...about ancient
Egypt is based on hieroglyphic writing, that is based on interpretations of
the hieroglyphic writing.

Dr. Ramses Seleem, a graduated from the
Cairo University, who has a Ph.D. in Egyptian history, and is a teacher of
Egyptology, in his book, The Illustrated Book Of The Dead, says the following.

44/3/1 "The fact that the ancient
Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be
translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance."

45/2/1 "A sentence, therefore, which
says, 'I have eaten with my mouth and chewed with my jaw,' does not express
its true meaning in this literal translation. The symbolic meaning of eating
with the mouth is that one digests what one eats; the symbolic meaning of
chewing with the jaw is that one comprehends what one learns. The true
translation of this text, therefore, should be, 'I digest what I learn and
adsorb what I comprehend."

Is there any merit of Dr. Seleem's
statement of 44/3/1 ("The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses
symbols and not letters means that it cannot be translated in the way we
translate English into French, for instance.")?

Sociology A Down To Earth Approach ---
Henslin
38/1/2-4 "A symbol is something to replica ic berlin sunglasses which people attach meaning and which
they then use to communicate. Symbols are the basis of culture. They include
gestures, language, values, norms, sanctions, folkways, and mores."

40/2/ "The primary way in which
people communicate with one another is through language -- a system of symbols
that can be put together in an infinite number of ways for the purpose of
communicating abstract thought. Each word is actually a symbol, a sound to
which we have attached a particular meaning so that we can then use it to
communicate with one another. Language itself is universal in the sense that
all human groups have language, but there is nothing universal about the
meanings given to particular sounds. Thus ... in different cultures the same
sound may mean something entirely different -- or may have no meaning at
all."

40/4/1- "Language allows humans
experience to be cumulative. By means of language one generation is able to
pass significant experiences on to the next and allow that next generation to
build on experiences it may not itself undergo."

40/6/1 "Language provides a social
or shared past."

40/7/1 "Language provides a social
or shared future."

41/1 "Language allows shared
perspectives or understanding. Our ability to speak, then, allows us a social
past and future; these two vital aspects of our humanity represent a watershed
that distinguishes us from animals. But replica breitling chronomat uhren speech does much more than this. When
humans talk with one another, they are exchanging ideas about events, that is,
exchanging perspectives. Their words are the embodiment of their experiences,
distilled and codified into a readily exchangeable form, mutually intelligible
for people who have learned that language. Talking about events allows people
to arrive at the shared understandings that form the essence of social
life."

41/3/1 "Language allows complex,
shared, goal-directed behavior."

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
41/3/3-5 "...Sapir and Whorf concluded that the common sense idea that
words are merely labels that people attach to things was wrong. They developed
the hypothesis that thinking and perception are not only expressed through
language but actually shaped by language. Because language has embedded in it
a way of looking at the world, learning a language involves learning not only
words but also a particular way of thinking and perceiving ..."

41/4/2 "The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
reverses common sense: It indicates that rather than events and objects
forcing themselves onto out consciousness, it is our very language that
determines our consciousness, and hence our perception, of objects and
events." 41/5/4 "...if you learn to classify students as 'dweebs,'
'dorks.' 'nerds.' 'brains,' and so on, you will perceive a student who asks
several questions during class or remains after class to talk about a lecture
in an entirely different way from someone who does not know these
classifications."

42/3/1 "Learning a language means
not just learning words but also acquiring the perceptions embedded in the
language."

42/4 " In short, our entire way of
life is based on language, although, like most aspects of culture, its
linguistic base is usually invisible to us."

As you should be able to tell, there is
great merit to Dr. Seleem's statement of 44/3/1 ("The fact that the
ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters means that it cannot be
translated in the way we translate English into French, for instance.").

Much of what we know of ancient Egyptian
religion is from religious text such as the Pyramid text, the Coffin text, and
the Book of the Coming Forth by Day (often called the Book of the Dead). These
religious text are written in hieroglyphs. So the meanings of the symbols of
the hieroglyphs is of great importance in correctly interpreting what these
religious text state.

Myth Symbol and Ancient Egypt --- Clark
26/1/3-5 "When we speak of Ancient Egypt we are not thinking of the
unchanging world of the present but the great world of the pharaohs and the
priests, scribes and artists who supported it. And this world, in spite of
foreign invasions and political domination by Greeks and then by Romans,
remained more or less intact until the third century AD. It was Christianity
that killed it, in all its aspects. The inevitable conclusion is that Egyptian
religion was the heart of the civilization. When that lost its nerve or was
superseded the rest fell apart."

26/2/1 "Any religion is a complex
thing; Egyptian religion was especially so, partly because of the rich
diversity of the civilization but even replica rolex datejust ii Orologi more because it penetrated and informed
every aspect of life."

It should be apparent that in order to
gain understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization, we must correctly
interpret the religious text, and in order to do this we must know the
meanings of the symbols of the hieroglyphs. As Dr. Seleem said, 44/3/1,
"The fact that the ancient Egyptian language uses symbols and not letters
means that it cannot be translated in the way we translate English into
French, for instance."

Religion In Ancient Egypt --- Shafer
9/1/6 These [Pyramid Text] funerary inscriptions contain enough descriptive,
narrative, and conversational data to allow scholars to form theories about
the concepts of divinity during pharaonic times and to offer hypotheses about
the concepts in use in the even more distance past.

9/3 Many modern examinations of godhood
in the earlier periods of Egyptian civilization have been based primarily on
theories developed from materials of the later time periods. In view of the
conservative nature of the Egyptians in general and the archaic style of
religious text in particular, such analyses have much merit. One must not
forget, however, that these late sources, although more abundant than earlier
ones, were far removed from the time the original ideas were formulated and
may contain errors or misconception that were compounded as they were handed
down.

Added to this are errors or
misconceptions of the individuals attempting to interpret the ancient text.
For example, it has long been held as fact that the ancient Egyptians believed
in many gods.

Many people, enen Egyptologists, believwe
the ancient Egyptians were polytheistic, believing in many gods.

Egyptian Religion --- Budge
17/1/1 "A study of ancient Egyptian religious texts will convince the
reader that the Egyptians believed in One God, who was self-existent,
immortal, invisible, eternal, omniscient, almighty, and inscrutable; the maker
of the heavens, earth, and underworld; the creator of the sky and the sea, men
and women, animals and birds, fish and creeping things, trees and plaints, and
the incorporeal beings who were the messengers that fulfilled his wish and
word."

29/4/2-4 "...mention must be made of
the neteru, i.e., the beings or existence’s which in some way partake of the
nature or character of God, and are usually called 'gods.' The early nations
that came in contact with the Egyptians usually misunderstood the nature of
these beings, and several modern Western writers have done the same. When we
examine these 'gods' closely, they are found to be nothing more or less than
forms, or manifestations, or phases, or attributes, of one god, that god being
Ra the Sun-god, who, it must be remembered, was the type and symbol of
God."

Awakening Osiris --- Ellis
21/2 "The Egyptian word which we have translated as 'god' is neter, as in
the 'neterworld.' But the word god, though common to us, seems imprecise when
applied to Egyptian religion. Neter refers primarily to a spiritual essence,
or principle. Our word 'nature' may derive from it through the Latin. The
multitudes of neters, then, represent the multitudinous natures of supreme
being. As John West pointed out in his book, Serpent in the Sky, the various
religious centers of Heliopolis, Memphis, Hermopolis, and Thebes, for example,
were not advocating different gods. They were advocating different aspects of
god.

21/3 "From the mouth of one supreme
god came what is known as the Great Ennead, or the nine gods (neters) of the
one. In Heliopolis these were: Temu, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set,
and Nephthys. In Memphis, Path and Hathor play major roles. In Hermopolis,
Thoth is elevated. Ra, as a principle of light, eternity, power and rebirth,
attained prominence nearly everywhere."

It should be apparent that I have given
an example of how we often forget, or do not realize, that much of what we
read about ancient Egypt is theory. The misconception that the ancient
Egyptians believed in many gods continues to hold sway over many people,
perhaps because they forgot, or did not realize, that much of what we read
about ancient Egypt is, in fact, theory.

Just who were the early Egyptologists who
developed theories about ancient Egypt, theories which are now being
challenged, theories which individuals like Dr. Seleem believe are based on
too literal interpretations of the religious text and, therefore, are
misleading. Were these early Egyptologists Christians? Remember what Clark
said in his book "Myth Symbol and Ancient Egypt."

26/1/3-5 "When we speak of Ancient
Egypt we are not thinking of the unchanging world of the present but the great
world of the pharaohs and the priests, scribes and artists who supported it.
And this world, in spite of foreign invasions and political domination by
Greeks and then by Romans, remained more or less intact until the third
century AD. It was Christianity that killed it, in all its aspects. The
inevitable conclusion is that Egyptian religion was the heart of the
civilization. When that lost its nerve or was superseded the rest fell
apart."

The Illustrated Book of the Dead ---
Seleem
53/1/2 [The introduction to the Book of Hunefer] "refutes the
misconception commonly held by modern Egyptologists that the Egyptians were
polytheistic, although the pioneers of Egyptology, such as Champoilion,
Maspero, and others, did recognize that the Egyptians embraced only one God.
Many of today's Egyptologists have been influenced by the religions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which in general maintain that the Egyptians
were heathen and polytheistic, a view that arises from a lack of understanding
of the Egyptian spiritual doctrine."

Are mainstream theoris about ancient
Egypt based on correct interpretations of the artifacts? Or, are the
mainstream theories about ancient Egypt based on interpretations influenced by
other religions and cultures? Have ulterior motives been at work? What do the
ancient Egyptian religious text, written in hieroglyphs, really state? What
are the perceptions embedded in the language written in hieroglyphs? I believe
these questions need to be addressed, but for now it is enough if you
acknowledge that much of what we...know... about ancient Egyptian civilization
is theory, based upon interpretations of the artifacts, and that different
individuals do not always interpret the artifacts the same, and that theories,
unlike the hieroglyphs, are not written in stone: they are subject to change,
as Byron Shafer stated, xi/1/2, "Ongoing archaeological and
epigraphically investigations continuously produce fresh data, some of which
point the way to reformulation of previously held hypotheses about ancient
Egyptian life, thought, and history."